There are so many things in the world to make you sick or cause cancer....you will never escape all of them. Typically what you are hearing about is phthalates in plastic. There are quite a few phthalates that are in plastic that are also on the EPA's list of cancer causing chemicals that actually are tested in the water you drink to make sure they are below 5ppb or the detection limit. Dimethyl phthalate, for example and a few others that according to the EPA is measured for toxicity and can't be in your drinking water. These chemicals make the plastic "flexible" or "malleable". Stick with hard plastics and they are likely to have less phthalates. However, really, you never going to get away from them and you could have any number of other cancer causing things going on all around you.

We have a gunite pool but what we tell our kids is "don't drink the water."

Thanks barco, I hear you about all of the other stuff in the environment. I could drive myself crazy thinking about the things we don't realize that go into concrete and plastics and stuff. But still I wonder how much can be absorbed throught the skin. Even Nike and Ikea are stopping the use of PVCs in their products

What did you decide about getting an above ground pool? I'm in the same predicament right now. While it's true you can't avoid the many dangers lurking about, to soak or spend any length of time in a toxic pool that's been heating up in the sun and releasing chemicals from the vinyl, well that doesn't sound very appealing. Plz let me know what you ended up doing. T-you, ~ Becca

I don't believe that not having a study means we should not be concerned. There actually are studies on the impact of heat on the release of chemicals. This was a concern when pallets of water and soda were being shipped to the gulf war area and sitting in the hot sun before consumption. They were tested and yes, huge amounts of toxins were released at a much higher level. You would have to search online to find the study.

Again you are referring to a study where people are ingesting water that was subjected to superheating in plastic containers. A. I would not recommend that you drink water out of your pool as a normal practice and B. I doubt that your pool water temperature and vinyl liner will reach the levels that a bottle of water left in a desert will reach. Geez don't we have enough legit things to fret about in the world already?? Move on, nothing to see here.....

Currently, phthalates are used to create the extreme plasticity of all vinyl pool liners. Phthalates can be absorbed through the skin and are commonly known to be associated with various cancers and endocrine/hormonal disruptions. All pool linings for any type of pool ultimately get worn down by the mechanism used (chemicals, salts, minerals) to keep the water clean. Whatever is lining your pool will ultimately end up in the water. If that includes phthalates then they're being absorbed by whoever is swimming in the pool.

Something I read once but, haven't confirmed: "it only takes about 3 grams or so of plastic to start affecting the human endocrine system." I don't know if that's true, but when my daughter was barely 7 she was tested and diagnosed with precocious puberty. Her endocrinologist thought she'd finish by 9. After extensive research, I ended up ditching all our food plastics, clothing plastics, and personal products with any kind of plastics, and no longer let her swim in vinyl pools. Her numbers indicating puberty went down slowly over the years and now she's 10 and still hasn't started her cycle yet. We use plastics in moderation now and still want a pool, but we're going with concrete, probably with a fiberglass lining so we can do saltwater and avoid the excess chlorine. It is more expensive so we have to save for an extra couple of years, but the price of the alternative risks being so much higher.

A bit technical but this paper shows that using UV sanitization helps to break down phthalates better than alternatives. I probably still wouldn't use a vinyl pool, but since plumbing typically uses PVC pipes it's something to consider.

https://www.e3s-conferences.org/articles/e3sconf/pdf/2019/26/e3sconf_eko-dok2019_00044.pdf